Despite winning three of four Big Ten games on the road this weekend, No. 14 Northwestern left Iowa with a sour taste in its mouth.
The Hawkeyes defeated the Wildcats Sunday afternoon after NU took the first game of the doubleheader and two contests against Illinois on Friday and Saturday.
Friday, the Cats beat the Fighting Illini 6-2 behind 15 Lauren Delaney strikeouts and 40 mph winds. Shortstop Tammy Williams contributed a hit in each of her three at-bats, and catcher Erin Dyer hit a solo home run.
Between pockets of heavy rains that caused three delays, NU won the second game of the series 11-6. The seven inning game took three hours and 12 minutes to complete.
The Cats offense powered the high-scoring series finale with four home runs and hits from each of the nine starters. The round-trippers came off the bats of Michelle Batts, Nicole Pauly, Darcy Sengewald and Dyer.
It was Dyer's third straight game with a home run.
"It was windier (on Saturday) than I think I've ever seen in Big Ten play, so for me it was definitely a factor, but I think our team handled it extremely well," Dyer said. "We know how important each Big Ten game is, and I think we're always ready to make it a full-day fight when it comes to bad weather."
After battling through the lengthy contest Saturday, the Cats fought through two tough games Sunday. The first game was a pitchers' duel between two of the conference's top hurlers.
Delaney had a no-hitter through five innings and finished the game without allowing a run, leading NU to a 2-0 victory. The Cats got two runs in the top of the fourth off of Hawkeye ace Brittany Weil on a Darcy Sengewald RBI bunt and a Michelle Batts RBI single.
Before the Iowa series, NU coach Kate Drohan emphasized the importance of fielding.
"I think what we need to do is defend well," Drohan said. "We need to play good defense. Iowa's traditionally always been a very short-game kind of team, so if we can take that away from them we should be in good shape."
2008 Woodie Awards
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